As The Seasons Change, Remember How I Used To Be
by battyderp
Summary: Nikola Tesla spent a good portion of his life loving Helen Magnus from afar, never really taken seriously and considered something of an annoyance. He's put up with being ignored for long enough.
1. Life Is Like A Game To Me

life is like a game to me…

Helen Magnus had gathered everyone for an urgent meeting, and was currently pacing up and down the room, seemingly lost in her own world. Though her voice was loud enough for all to hear, it seemed as though she were talking more to herself, watching the ground like she was calculating the mass of the sun. Everyone frowned at her, all except Bigfoot, who had gotten up a while ago and started dusting the bookshelves absently.

The sun streamed in through the window, clearly irritating Helen as she walked over and yanked the heavy curtains shut.

Nikola gazed at her from where he was leaning against the door frame, cradling a half-empty glass of red wine. His mind began to wander; when Helen got herself into these trances, it was almost impossible to follow her train of thought. Helen was an enigma. Life needed mystery and intrigue. But she was one he hadn't been able to conquer, not in two hundred years. Nikola Tesla was the master of electricity, of radio, yet, no matter how hard he had tried, Helen had always been able to remain just out of reach. He ran and ran and ran, but she was always ahead. Nothing seemed impossible in his presence. Well, except maybe the reason behind him inexplicably being turned into 'magnet man', and then later becoming the last member of the Vampiris race again. That still eluded him. Not to mention the fact that his old colleagues and self-proclaimed "best friends" had been Jack the Ripper, able to teleport anywhere in the world with a single thought, the invisible man, and possibly the most ingenious man in the entire world (which Nikola still disputed whenever the subject was brought up. Had Watson invented radio? No. He had been made into Sherlock Holmes.) But back to the point; let's just say that Einstein wouldn't be quite so famous if Nikola hadn't peered over his shoulder at him struggling with an equation, and suggested he add some squared to that 'mc'.

He wasn't usually one to get in a bad mood; his sharp tongue and sarcasm and undying disappointment in mankind didn't count. Really the only reason for him to start snapping at people was if he was running low on wine and was forced to drink the cheap stuff, left to age for under ten years. But at the moment, he was especially short-tempered, most likely caused by the amount of hurt he was experiencing at Helen choosing Jack the Ripper over him. It was ridiculous and degrading for someone with such a huge ego. There had always been rivalry between the two men, which had steadily escalated into hatred. The looks of contempt John shot Nikola when Helen chose the murderer to accompany her, or in the early days when the engaged couple would spend a lot of the day gazing into each other's eyes like a pair of love-struck idiots made Nikola's blood boil and his heart ache. He did want Helen to be happy, much to the disbelief of others who regarded Nikola as nothing more than selfish and narcissistic. That was the one thing stopping him from ripping John's head off, because he knew it would shatter Helen's heart, thus shattering his. So it was a dilemma. He just wanted Helen to be happy with… _him_. But, seriously, what could she possibly see in the bald giant? He was convinced he loved Helen more than John ever could. And she had gone on to James Watson, and basically everyone except Nikola, much to his chagrin. He felt a pang in his heart at the thought of James – he did miss him.

Helen wasn't perfect, and she infuriated him. And that was what made her so perfect to him. She was the only other person he truly respected, and the only opinions he listened to were hers. Only she could keep him at bay, and that was what kept him coming back for more. She was his best friend in the world, the world they had saved together time and time again. He trusted her with his life, and he knew she trusted him too, though he had given her little reason to. If he was in a fight, he knew who he would want on his side, and it wouldn't be some idiot wielding a machine gun. Times change, everything died, but his love for her seemed to be eternal. God, he hated how poetic he could be sometimes.

He didn't have to pretend to be someone he wasn't around her; she matched his fire, didn't try to contain it. So when she had returned to the Sanctuary with only a few weeks to live after following Adam Worth into the rift, it had felt as though his world had come shattering down around him. Just thinking of it made him shudder inwardly. When John had been on the verge of slashing Worth's throat open, Nikola had simply stood back and watched, eventually letting the human inside him (yes, much to everyone's amazement, there still was one) get the better of him and intervened. But he hadn't been himself back then. He had delivered mocking remarks in a soft, withdrawn tone; he had had to assure everyone else that Helen would be fine, when really all he wanted was someone to tell him that, though that would have done nothing to calm his nerves. When he had learnt she would be fine, he had wanted to scoop her off her feet and let his animal instincts control him.

Yes, he may have used her a few times, but he always remained true to her in the end, and she always found ways to forgive him for all the wrong he had done. He would follow her to the end of the world if he had to, and he wasn't sure if she even knew how much she meant to him.

Nikola allowed his mind to wander further, and everything around him melted away completely. His brain dug deep into the memories of the years just before Helen had helped Nikola fake his own death, back to the time Nikola and Helen had dated. Okay, it wasn't so much 'dating' as a few drinks in restaurants and some late-night booty calls, and even that had only lasted a few weeks. But nevertheless, those had been the happiest days of Nikola's entire life. Happier than when he created the radio, happier than when the Five finally managed to get their hands on a vile of the source blood after so many years of searching. Though he had always been in love with her, those were the days when he truly gave her his heart. And yet now, every time he tried to get close to her again, she would push him away as though he were joking. Yes, maybe his methods weren't the most romantic, but… He was Nikola Tesla! He honestly didn't understand why people were so obsessed with this whole love thing – it was painful and confusing and _distracting_. He could have solved string theory by now if he hadn't been so focused on the British woman.

He shook his head to clear his troubled thoughts, letting out a small sigh. Raising the glass to his lips, he finished off the last of the wine, once again annoyed that the alcohol had no effect on a half-vampire.

"So then you _don't_ agree, Nikola?"

Perhaps he should just give up…? But that wasn't who he was. You don't achieve what he had by giving up. Maybe one day she would realise her mistakes…

"For God's sake, Nikola, pay attention! This is important!"

He shouldn't be obsessing over these stupid, insignificant things. But they weren't insignificant, and-

"Tesla, dude!"

He jumped as a pillow connected with his face, knocking the glass from his hands. It fell and shattered on the wooden floor boards below, and Nikola cringed. But he quickly collected himself, using one hand to straighten his shirt collar, and raised his head to glare at Will, who was looking at him, eyes sparkling with amusement and self-satisfaction.

Nikola growled, "Now look what you've done, William!" he snapped, gesturing down at the broken glass angrily. Will looked taken aback at his response, and frowned, much to Nikola's contempt.

From beside Will, Kate leaned forward, eyebrows raised questioningly, and Henry looked up from where he had been studying something on his laptop.

Bigfoot let out a rumbling sigh and placed the feather duster on one of the shelves, walking heavily over to Nikola, who stepped aside. "Don't worry about it, I'll get it," The abnormal scooped the sharp shards into his bare hand, thick skin no match for the jagged edges and stood back up, walking out of the room and disappearing down the corridor.

Everyone in the room watched him leave, an awkward silence gripping the room. Henry cleared his throat and went back to his work, though, by the lack of eye movement, Nikola could tell he was simply staring at the screen to avoid making eye contact with the other people in the room.

Finally, Helen broke the quiet and leaned back against the window sill, arms folded across her chest. She watched Nikola curiously, concern creeping into her stunning eyes that had so often caused him to forget his own name. "Is something bothering you?"

He shook his head, "I'm fine," he replied curtly, instantly feeling guilty at speaking to her like that. Composing himself, he became the man everyone knew him as, the only person he would let anyone know, even Helen, so he wouldn't appear weak, "Just…" He headed for the drink cart and poured himself another drink, "Well, quite frankly, the drinks here aren't worthy of me. _Me_, Helen. You should be ashamed."

She rolled her eyes, "I'm sorry our beverages aren't up to your liking, your majesty," she threw back, a small smile playing at her lips. Her voice was light and teasing, and he wished she would use it more. It went so well with her sexy accent. Then both of them noticed the other people in the room were still watching them – Kate had barely suppressed a snicker as Will had leaned over to whisper in her ear how obvious Nikola and Helen's chemistry was and how he wished they would stop with the foreplay and just get it on already, which had earned them a scathing glare from Nikola and a blush from Helen.

"Really, Will, I would expect better from you."

Nikola smirked and threw her a sidewards glance, "This is what you get for hiring an American, my dear Helen," Turning back to Will, he added, "And by the way, chump, _I_ handle the sarcastic remarks, thank you." Will rolled his eyes dismissively.

Helen put on a more serious expression before continuing, "Anyway, Nikola, I asked if you thought my plan of capturing the abnormal would work. It's been over a decade since I've seen one of these species, and I believe you came up with the device that used electrical pulses to confuse it," She gestured with one hand at the picture that was up on the computer screen to her left, before tucking her hand back under her other arm. Nikola glanced at it as she went on, "In case you haven't been listening at all during this meeting, Henry has updated the model from my memory and I would like you to take a look at it later, to see if it is up to scratch, unlike our wine."

Nodding, Nikola flicked Henry a look, "Knowing your tech guy, he's probably stuck the pieces together using chewing gum."

"Hey!" Henry snapped defensively, eyes flickering from Nikola to Helen, as though he couldn't believe what he had just heard.

_He should be used to this by now,_ Tesla thought to himself, chuckling inwardly. Though he had nothing against Henry, he was just so fun to tease; Nikola could never take him seriously, however hard Henry tried to prove himself. It was obvious the young man wanted to learn from the scientist, and that he looked up to him, but Henry, however impressive he may seem to other people, was, quite simply, _Henry_. Then again, everyone was inferior to Nikola Tesla. Everyone except Helen Magnus.


	2. I Am Lost, I Am Vain

I am lost, I am vain || I will never be the same without you

Heavy rain beat down deafeningly on the roof, echoing through the huge house and sending chills through the room, despite the heater that was working tirelessly. Thunder rumbled in the distance, rattling the glass, and lighting boomed and crackled outside. Nikola stood on the rolling ladder, undeterred by the weather, running his hand across the spine of books, bored and looking for anything he didn't already know. Much to his surprise, Henry's recreation of his original idea for the device had been almost perfect, and Tesla had only had to make a few very minor adjustments. He had grudgingly praised Henry, but had quickly followed that up with a few stinging comments, which did little to diminish the proud smile that had stretched across Henry's face.

Now everyone was asleep; he could hear their gentle, even breathing in each of their rooms with his heightened hearing. It was soothing, in a weird sort of way. Casting a quick glance down at his watch, he noticed with a start that it was nearly 3 am, not that that bothered him. He had no longer needed to sleep after Helen had injected him with the source blood over a century ago.

At that moment, he heard footsteps approaching from down the hall, clumsy as though the person had just woken up, He looked down at the door to see Helen appear, holding her hand over her mouth as she yawned. Seeming to not notice him at first, she wandered over to the long table in the centre of the room and set down the thick book she had been carrying under one arm.

He began to descend the tall ladder slowly and soundlessly, and, when he was on the third step, jumped down, landing with a thud. Helen spun around, eyes wide with alarm and hands instinctively bawled into fists. Nikola simply grinned back at her deviously, walking over.

"If the public knew how childish you really were behind closed doors, Nikola, they would be in for a great deal of shock," Helen scolded, though her grey-blue eyes glittered with stifled laughter.

Nikola shrugged indifferently, "Then it's a good thing I'm a genius, huh?"

"And so modest, too."

He smiled crookedly and joined Helen at the table, opening the book and flicking through the pages while she watched. "You just had the sudden urge to read a good book at three in the morning?" he asked, looking at her from his peripheral vision.

"I found it in my room and thought I should put it back here."

"At three in the morning," he repeated amusedly.

She leaned forward and slammed the book shut, almost crushing his fingers; he looked up at her questioningly, though wasn't too surprised. Violent outbursts when in his company weren't rare. Finally, she let out a sigh and pulled out one of the chairs that rested at the table, sitting down. "I couldn't sleep," she confessed, "I tried and tried, but my mind refused to stop thinking about everything in the bloody world!" She paused before going on, "And when I did finally manage to get to sleep at midnight, it was full of nightmares."

Nikola raised his eyebrows sceptically. "You, afraid of a little nightmare?" She flashed him an irritated look. He wanted to be supportive; he wanted to make her a cup of tea and kindly discuss what was bothering her and haunting her nights, but he couldn't make himself do it. It seemed unnatural, after so long of trying to convince himself he didn't care. He had given up denying his emotions long ago, but there were still certain things he found foreign. So he did nothing, and knew she wouldn't be surprised. He tried to think of all the things that could be troubling her: John, her father, Ashley. When news had reached him over a year ago that her only daughter had died, he had mourned her death. It wasn't as if he and Ashley had been close, and the girl most likely hated him, but he had helped Helen in succeeding to delay her pregnancy back in the 19th century so that, when the girl was eventually born, it would be into a world where women were equals to men. The only reason he hadn't tried to save her from the Cabal was because he hadn't known. And he deeply regretted that, because he knew that a parent never got over the death of their child, so that could be added to the extensive list of things that made Helen's life a living Hell.

Helen blinked a few times and rubbed her eyes with her hands, letting out an exhausted groan. "What are you doing up?" she asked, voice distant.

"I don't sleep," he replied, frowning, "After this long, I thought you would have gotten the memo."

She shook her head, gritting her teeth, "Right, right. Sorry."

Instantly thinking up the cure to insomnia, he turned on his heel and headed for the other end of the table, scooping up the wine bottle and pouring a drink so close to the brim it was on the verge of overflowing, topping up his own glass while he was at it. Nikola placed the glass in front of her, and she looked up, gaze flicking from the man to the glass, before picking up the wine and pressing it to her lips. "I shouldn't be doing this," She swallowed.

He took a seat beside her, busying himself with skimming through the book she had brought in, "Then don't do it, but it is the best medicine," he answered, goosebumps running up and down his arms when he was close to her, and was relieved he had been wearing long sleeves. Nikola would have thought that after so long, his feelings for her would have begun to subside. But he had been proven wrong; he still felt breathless when he felt her body heat radiating off her, when she exhaled near his ear. He even loved her little habits, like how she drummed her nails against any surface available when she was concentrating, and how she was one of only two people that insisted on calling him by his first name when everyone else simply called him Tesla, the other being his late mother when he was a child back in Serbia. He hated how he felt so powerless around her, but was reassured by the many times he had been able to jump to her rescue, ready to kill anyone who dared threatened her. He may not have been the strongest person, but very possibly had the best reason to use what strength he did possess.

Science made sense. That was why he had always had such a passion for it. The rest of life, and certainly doctor Helen Magnus, was confusing, but that only added an exciting challenge. The thought made him smile inwardly; when he had still been in school, he had been the nerd, and his teacher had hated him, mostly because he knew Nikola was smarter than him. He still pondered sometimes how informing the teacher their methods were wrong at the age of ten had been deemed 'disrespectful', and had merited the cane. It was true, and his mother had always told him not to lie. Not that he really followed that rule. When he had graduated, he had decided to check up on his old classmates, to see if they had done anything particularly amazing. Nikola had discovered, with very little surprise, that more than one of them had gone on to work as milliners. Need he say more? What a sad lot. And to think they had once teased him in Britain over his accent; how did they like him now?

The thought also stirred other memories: when he had faked his death, he hadn't been able to stay away from Helen. Not that she had ever known, but every few months, he had checked up on her. He had used various methods to do so, never giving her the opportunity to know he was behind it. More than once he had hired people to crash into her on the street, simply to see if it seemed as though anything was wrong with her. A number of other times, he had driven past her with the windows up or left a gift in her letterbox, waiting around the corner to see her reaction. He had called her a few times, saying nothing and just listening o her voice, eventually apologising in Serbian and hanging up. The whole thing was rather childish and stalker-ish looking in reflection, but it had kept him sane.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, yet it wasn't awkward. They had known each other for such a long time that sometimes, on the rare occasions they were alone, they could simply enjoy each other's company. Of course, it was almost definitely more meaningful for Nikola, and others wouldn't believe it was possible to enjoy being around Tesla, but the point still applied, God dammit!

"I just…" Helen trailed off, and it was a few more moments before she continued, "Sometimes, I wish things had worked out between John and I. Okay, every day. I know I ought to detest him after all he's done, but… Well, I know I can't expect you to understand what being in love feels like."

Nikola was speechless. Not about the fact that she was still in love with John, though that did revive the old jealousy in him, but that she could think he had never been in love. Why was it that everyone else could see how plainly obvious it was he was chasing after her, yet, for once, she was oblivious? How couldn't she see it? He was certain she had been able to, and had just been rejecting him, which wasn't a whole lot better. Contrary to popular belief, he wasn't a heartless monster, though he could understand why people would think that. But she was different. She knew the real him. So what was going on now? It hurt.

It took a moment for him to realise she was staring at him, brow furrowed, "Are you sure you're okay?" she asked, "You look like you've just seen a ghost. You can tell me if something's wrong."

"I'm perfect," he muttered, averting his eyes as though the table were suddenly the most fascinating thing in the universe.


	3. All I Wanted Was You

all I wanted was you…

Horse-drawn carriages clicked over the cobblestone roads; the horses tossed their heads and let out little snorts every so often. The moon shone high overhead, casting a silver glow over London. There were no clouds in the sky to detract from the moon, and a warm, gentle breeze brushed against the people's face.

A couple strolled down the street, which was empty, lit only by the moonlight and a few lanterns dotted over the city. Any child could plainly see they were in love; the blonde woman had her right arm tucked through the man's arm, who looked down at her with fiery passion burning in the depths of his eyes, so strong it almost made you uneasy. There wasn't another soul in sight.

"Helen," he murmured, stopping abruptly and turning to her; she stared up at him expectantly and trustingly, "Don't ever leave me."

She smiled, though there was a trace of sadness in her voice as she declared, "John Druitt, on all that is Holy, I swear to you that as long as there is breath in my body, we will always be together."

Helen started awake, clutching the sheets and gasping for breath. A book lay beside her, and her bedside lamp was still on. The fire crackled and spat in the fireplace, close to dying. She was confused about where she was for a brief moment, before the painful realisation hit her. John wasn't there. Briefly glancing over at the clock, she realised the alarm would go off in less than 10 minutes, and then she would have to be alert and lead her group on a mission to capture the abnormal. Sighing, she flopped back down onto her pillow, staring at the ceiling.

She should be excited. This abnormal was extremely rare, and she hadn't seen it since her days at Oxford; they were creatures of pure energy, inhabiting volcanoes and feeding off their heat. They communicated using lights and electro-magnetic pulses. Though they were solitary and usually preferred to avoid humans, they were incredibly hyper and capable of great damage. When threatened, they sent out waves of electricity powerful enough to stop the hearts of every creature within 5 miles, which were often mistaken for bombings.

But, at the moment, she had had time to dwell on how much she had lost. And she felt guilty for every single death.

Nikola pulled on the fresh black jacket and buttoned it quickly; then, running a hand through his hair, he pulled open the door and made his way over to Helen's office, where he knew the other members of the Sanctuary would be waiting. He was late, but, for once, the thought of seeing Helen actually made his stomach churn.

Arriving in the room, he immediately headed for the drinks cart, which Bigfoot had replenished in anticipation of the half-vampire. He averted Helen's eye as she turned her head to greet him, looking weary with exhaustion. She had been in the middle of speaking, no doubt preparing her team.

"Nice of you to finally join us, Nikola," she commented, slipping her battered back-pack over her shoulder.

He grunted in response. She must have sensed something was wrong (when Tesla didn't respond with some witty one-liner, everyone knew to be worried), but she made no move to question him.

Seeming uncharacteristically flustered, Helen went back to talking, listing what to be careful of, the creature's weak spots, and so on. She was taking everyone on this expedition, with the exception of Bigfoot; such a large group was strange and usually slowed them down, but Helen had explained it was necessary because many people were needed to safely secure this abnormal. Even Nikola was going, as much as he had protested. He preferred to stay behind in labs within reach of wine, except on very important missions, such as when the Five had been needed to retrieve the last of the source blood, or when he and Helen had gone to explore the old Praxian stronghold. Helen had insisted he go, much to his annoyance. But, at the time, he had reasoned it was an opportunity to spend some time with Helen, but now he had even more reason to want to stay back; unfortunately, he knew arguing with Helen would be utterly pointless in the end. He may be able to beat anyone else in an argument, but Helen matched him word for word.

Once she had finished and everyone was preparing to leave the room, Kate turned to him, a smirk on her face, "How are you ever gonna last without wine?"

"Not happily," he replied, "Prepare for much whining."

She chuckled, "So it won't be any different to usual then."

Nikola held up one finger, "Watch it."

Kate grinned and followed the rest of her team.

At that moment, Nikola heard a zap and jerked his head around. Walking briskly towards the lounge room, he heard numerous voices, and one in particular made his fangs threaten to appear.

"Is this everyone?" asked the painfully familiar voice, just as Nikola entered the room to see John standing in front of the group. The sorrow in Helen's gaze as she watched him was even more pronounced than usual, and Nikola involuntarily let out a low growl, deep in his throat. John peered past the other people, and smiled thinly when he saw Tesla stalking over to stand at the back of the small crowd, a glass of wine in one hand. For a second, he saw menace flash in John's eyes, but it was gone just as quickly as it had appeared, "Ah, Tesla. Helen didn't tell me you would be here," He cast a quick glance at Magnus pointedly, who stared defiantly back at him.

"Is that going to be a problem?" Nikola asked with a smile, daring him to say something more.

John met his gaze unflinchingly. Tension crackled in the room, "Not at all, old boy," he answered evenly, voice soft.

"Good. Because I just couldn't miss trekking into a volcano after some hyped-up ball of energy."

The taller man nodded once, before focusing his attention on Helen and the others once more, "Ready?" he asked in his annoyingly gravelly voice that made Nikola grit his teeth. When everyone nodded, John took a few steps forward and placed his hands on Helen and Will's shoulders; Nikola noticed that John's grip on Helen was quite tight, and he looked down at her meaningfully, but she awkwardly avoided his eyes. Take that, John, Nikola thought bitterly, though it hurt to see how much Helen was clearly suffering, though it was most likely only him and John that noticed.

In a flurry of orange-pink light that wreathed around each other like tendrils, the three of them disappeared, with John reappearing a heartbeat later. He then teleported Kate and Henry, who looked reluctant to travel by those means. Finally, it was Nikola's turn. They stood watching each other for a few moments, eyes hard and jaws set, before John eventually walked over to him.

"I could just leave you behind, old chap," John told him, towering over him as though that could possibly intimidate Nikola, who simply smiled up at him.

"Go right ahead," he replied, voice calm and collected, while, on the inside, his heart pounded with the need to rid himself of John forever, "But then you'd have to deal with Helen, and we both know how she gets when someone disobeys her desires."

John obviously caught the not-so-subtle undertone as Nikola was instantly slammed hard against the wall, John's hand on his throat. Tesla glared up at him, hissing in a mocking voice, "I guess no one ever truly changes, ey, 'old boy'?"

The taller man quivered slightly, clearly struggling to decide whether or not to kill Nikola, who was simply playing along. Tesla knew that he was far stronger than John. But it was good to get all their pent-up aggression out into the open. It had been Nikola's fault that John had turned into who he was; he had once been kind and caring. But then Helen had announced she was marrying John, joy radiating from every inch of her and the huge rock sparkling on her slender finger, and John had just stared down at him with a patronizing smirk, as though to say 'I've won.' It had left Nikola speechless, hurt and furious that she was so happy and he wasn't the cause of it. He had known her far longer than John, and yet he had lost. John had her heart, not he. So, made cold by jealousy, Nikola had ventured everywhere, looking for any way to stop their impending marriage, when manipulation hadn't worked. And eventually, he had stumbled across a creature he had never seen before, and had "befriended" the abnormal, leading it back to London. Then he had let the creature loose in John Druitt's apartment, and immediately after that, the man was different. He turned into Jack the Ripper, and Nikola had watched, satisfied with himself. Who cared if a few ladies of the night were slaughtered? The only thing that had disconcerted him was the look of emptiness and excruciating hurt and betrayal in Helen's eyes. John had never known who was behind his sudden change, and Nikola wasn't ever planning on telling him.

Finally, John stepped away, reluctantly releasing his grip from around Nikola's throat. But he wasn't done yet, "Put one hand on Helen," he warned in a low, malicious voice, "And I will—"

"Oh, enough with the threats, Johnny!" Nikola rolled his eyes, "We all know how this ends. You don't own Helen – she has her own mind." He was more than aware that he should use that advice more often.

John didn't respond, just reached forward and grabbed Nikola's shirt collar roughly. They flashed through a blur of scenery; Nikola felt icy wind slap against his face, stinging his cheeks, followed instantaneously by scorching heat, and then humidity. When they finally landed in their destination, his head spun a little, but he quickly regained his composure before he stumbled. Helen jumped to her feet from where she had been resting on a boulder.

"Where have you been?" she demanded.

Nikola shot a look at John, though he was smiling, "We stopped for a little chat."

Helen held his gaze for a moment more, looking as though she wanted to question the two some more, but she simply turned back to her team, who was watching them curiously.

The air was hot and sticky, unpleasant and acrid. It stunk of sulphur and burning rocks, and the ground was blanketed with a thick layer of ash. This should be fun.

"This a new suit!" Nikola complained as the other's feet stirred up ash.

Helen didn't look back as she replied, "This isn't a beauty contest, Nikola."

"No, but we all know you would win if it was," Helen flashed him a look, the corner of her lips twitching as she fought down a smile. He felt eyes on him, and glanced over to see John glaring at him. Defiantly, Nikola picked up his pace so he was walking side by side Helen, ignoring John though he could still feel him brooding behind him, no doubt thinking up all the ways he could torture Nikola if he got the chance.


	4. When A Tornado Meets A Volcano

Maybe that's what happens when a tornado meets a volcano

Lava bubbled beneath them, rather unsettling. Helen, Will, Henry and Kate had attached cables to sturdy rocks, and were preparing to make their way down into the huge volcano, pulling at their lines to make sure they would hold. They had been specially designed by Henry to withstand great trauma, but that wasn't much to calm Nikola's nerves. He eyed them uncertainly, unease making him restless. Or maybe he was just going into wine-withdrawal. Both, most likely.

"I could always teleport you down," John suggested once again, clearly worried as well, but to the same extent as Nikola he wasn't sure.

"John," Helen didn't look up as she responded, confidence and even a little excitement evident in her voice. Nikola resisted a smile at the change. She continued to tug at her metallic rope, circling around everyone else's to make sure they were all secured properly, "We've been through this. I assure you we'll all be fine. You follow with Nikola once we're down."

Nikola snickered, "Don't let your paranoia bring down the whole group, John."

At first, he thought John was going to remain silent, when he finally responded, "If you are so trusting of the ropes, then why don't you go with them, too?" His eyes glittered, "I'm sure you're right, and I'm simply being paranoid about Helen's safety."

Will raised his head to smirk at the two men, but Nikola ignored him.

Tesla swallowed. He wasn't one to back down from a challenge, though this he truly did not want to do. But he would never let John walk away satisfied, even if it killed him, which it very well could. He raised his head to demonstrate his superiority and grinned, "If William can do it, I can definitely do it," He shrugged off his jacket, adding, "And besides, I'll be the one to catch Helen if she falls."

"Yes, yes," Helen broke in, walking over to her backpack and unravelling the last cord, "You're my knight in shining armour, Nikola. Now, if you're coming, please hurry up." She shoved the cord into his chest, and he looked down at it, unsure of what to do.

Letting out a dramatic sigh of exasperation, Henry grabbed the cord and quickly held the end of it in front of one of the large rocks, until a small metal cylinder burst from the tip and drilled into the rock. When it erupted on the other side, a series of hooks implanted themselves into the stone. Henry tugged at it until satisfied it wouldn't come loose. He then turned back to Tesla and instructed him to tie the other end of the rope around his waist.

"Science I can handle," Nikola justified himself as Henry began to walk back to his own position, "But manual labour I don't do."

Will glanced at him as though to say 'I've noticed', and Nikola scowled.

"Okay," Helen suddenly announced, "Let's go."

While the rest of the group expertly began to lower themselves down the cliff-face, Nikola watched them before finally trailing after them clumsily. He desperately hoped no one noticed. He had an image to uphold! At one point he narrowly avoided tipping backwards, and his breath caught in his throat. But he managed to remain upright, and continued on more carefully. Much to his irritation, he looked up to see John peering over the edge, chuckling at Nikola's incompetence, and he quickly quickened his descent, forgetting to be careful in the process.

Finally, he landed on the ledge beside the rest of the Sanctuary team, who were already untying themselves from the strong rope. With some difficulty, he managed to undo the numerous knots he had tied before, and waited for his heartbeat to return to normal. Letting the rope drop to his feet, he joined the others. Each was holding a torch, though Kate had to hit hers a few times before it flickered on. John was the last to arrive.

"Come on," Helen ordered softly, creeping forward. The stench in the tunnel was over-powering and made Nikola feel nauseous, but he pushed past the unpleasantness.

Henry followed close behind her, looking down at a little device that glowed in the darkness. "Doc," he whispered after a few moments, holding out the electronic device for her to inspect, "The abnormal's about a mile ahead of us."

She nodded in thanks, looking back at her group who nodded. They walked through the twisting tunnels, through cavern after cavern until any normal person would have lost all sense of direction. But after Nikola had spent all those decades exploring his ancestor's ancient home in the Himalayas, he had picked up some useful skills. It also helped that he was a genius, but, you know. That fact was already well established.

Nikola trailed behind the rest, avoiding John, who was acting like a guard dog around Helen. He couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed for the man. The ground began to slope steadily downwards, and the stone closed in on all sides, leaving no means of escape. But Nikola had been in worse situations.

Eventually, after what seemed like hours (though time didn't apply to Nikola the same as it did to other people), Henry held up a hand to stop them, still focused on the screen. An unnatural, blinding glow was coming from a crack in the stone wall, and Nikola had to shield his eyes against the light. John tried to appear stronger by withstanding it, but finally he too had to cover his face.

"God, you weren't kidding when you said this thing was powerful," Will commented, squinting at Helen, who nodded in agreement.

She looked down at Henry, "How do we get inside?"

He pointed further down the tunnel, checking back with the device before nodding, "There's a bigger crack in the wall about ten metres along. We should be able to fit through that."

Helen, running one hand along the wall so she didn't trip, half-blinded by the light, walked slowly, carefully in the direction Henry had described. Will was carrying Henry's recreation of Nikola's device; it was round, roughly the size of a Frisbee. But it was covered in tiny holes and a few buttons; this would emit a high-pitched sound, at a frequency not even dogs could detect, and confuse the creature, if all went to plan.

She stopped at the crack, exactly where Henry had said it would be. Turning, she walked over to where Nikola was standing at the back of the group, silent. He looked up as she approached, and smirked.

"So, you know what to do?" she asked. For a moment, he could have sworn he saw genuine concern flash in her wide eyes, reminiscent of when he had faced Gregory Magnus' challenge when they had gone to reclaim the remaining Source Blood, and almost been scorched to smithereens.

His smirk grew, "I've faced worse, dear Helen," he replied, "Don't worry about me."

"I'm not worried," she quickly told him, as though afraid to admit she cared for him. Or maybe she was simply telling the truth. They had known each other for so long that they could communicate without speaking; a twitch of the hand, the slowness of a blink, they could read each other like open books. But at the moment, he wasn't sure of anything, which definitely didn't suit him, "But you're one of the most important parts of this plan."

"You've always been a terrible liar," he chuckled. Her eyes had always betrayed how she truly felt, "I know you would miss me if something happened."

She narrowed her eyes, pausing before saying anything, "Nonsense," Then immediately added, as though she needed to convince herself, "But nothing's going to happen to you."

They stared into each other's eyes for a few more moments, and everything else faded away; they blinked only a few times, at times they frowned.

Be careful, she begged without using words.

He raised his eyebrows, eyes sparkling, Are you kidding? Careful is my middle name. Trust me for once, Helen.

Helen let out a small sigh and nodded, clearly unconvinced, but said nothing more on the subject. She turned her head and whispered "Will." When he looked over at her, she gestured with one hand.

Will nodded and edged towards the crack in the wall, sucking in a breath before ducking through it. Nikola heard the device clatter on the hard ground as Will through it, and cringed, hoping the extra protection he had insisted Henry build into it had saved it from destruction. The abnormal let out a roar as the small machine began to work, and the light grew stronger. Unfortunately, Nikola's hearing was more acute than a dog's, so the sound was ear-splitting, pounding in his ears like a trumpet had been stuffed inside his head. He gritted his teeth.

As the rest of the team readied themselves, Helen glanced back at Nikola, who blinked back at her calmly. If one wished to count the times Nikola Tesla had been truly afraid, they could use one hand and still have fingers left over. The majority of the times he been scared were because Helen was in danger. Now he was simply a little nervous, though the confidant smirk remained on his face, determination glittering his eyes.

He covered the distance to the entrance in a matter of strides, and looked inside the cavern. Just as he had designed it, the device had weakened he creature, so now he could actually see. But it was still like looking at the sun; he knew where it was, but looking directly at it was still impossible and extremely painful. So, eyes fixed just to the side of the abnormal, he stepped inside. Mind clicking into gear, his finger nails grew as long and sharp as small, black daggers, and thick fangs appeared in his mouth; his eyes grew dark, brimmed with red, and his skin became grey. It was quite a frightful sight, but Nikola relished in it.

Excitement making his heart pound, he circled around the abnormal. "Let's tango," he growled. Nikola was the only one able to withstand such electricity, but that didn't mean it would be a walk in the park.

He leapt at the abnormal, but it flew into the air, floating at the top of the cave as though taunting him. Nikola bared his teeth and sprang upwards, slashing at the creature. But it took the opportunity to slam into him, knocking the breath from his lungs and pushing him to the ground. For a creature made of pure energy, it was pretty damn solid. What was with everyone attacking him today?

Jumping back to his feet, he stumbled a little and brushed the dirt from his pant legs. "Can't we sort this out like gentlemen?" he sneered in his deep, distorted vampire voice. In response, it smashed into the ground, sending vibrations through the walls and earth. In the distance, he heard the lava gurgle, and recalled Helen saying that these things controlled when volcanoes erupted. Crap.

"Apparently not," Nikola ran at the abnormal, catching it by surprise, and wrapped his arms around it. It continued to struggle, and he grunted as it hit his stomach. Man, he was going to be bruised later. Maybe even a cracked rib or two if he was really lucky. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Helen watching, eyes wide, and behind her John had a small smile plastered on his face. He wouldn't give him the satisfaction! Like John could ever do this.

"Uh, little help here!" he yelled, continuing to struggle to keep the abnormal contained. Kate, Henry and Will rushed towards him, brandishing special firearms, and aimed them at the abnormal. Kate was the first to shoot, balls of electricity thrown from the gun. As they connected with the abnormal, the creature cried out, and Nikola choked down a yelp. Henry had assured him that the weapons wouldn't harm the abnormal, just stun it, but obviously, he had never tried it out on himself. It instantly electrocuted Nikola, and the seemingly indestructible vampire, who could fall from 50-story buildings and walk away unharmed, crumbled to the ground.

His vision was blurry and filled with indistinguishable shapes of light; his whole body hurt and tingled, continuing to zap him, and his eyes ached. He felt his sharp teeth detract and his nails return to normal. He tried to stand, but it was useless. Semi-conscious and hating how vulnerable he was, he heard Helen yell his name and saw a fuzzy shape he assumed was her run towards him and crouch at his side. He felt warm hands press against his neck, and the deafening explosions of the guns, the roar of the abnormal slowly becoming softer and more desperate. Then everything faded away completely, and he retreated into an uncomfortable darkness. Why had he ever agreed to this?


	5. No One Else Listened, No One Else Cared

No one else listened because no one else cared…

For a moment, he thought he was dead. Perhaps that would offer some relief, but his will to live was too strong. So he pushed through the agony, the confusion, the spinning darkness that made him lose all track of time, and slowly blinked open his eyes. At first the harsh lights blinded him, and he closed his eyes with a hiss, for once cursing his heightened senses. Vampires wouldn't burn to crisps in light as humans thought, but they could still be hurt by them after a hangover, or, in his case, after regaining consciousness.

His eyes stung and burned, a result of having his face shoved against a giant ball of energy. Slowly, he tried to open his eyes again and this time was successful. He lay stunned for a few seconds, before becoming aware of someone beside him; he turned his head, which hurt like Hell, to see Helen sitting next to his bed, reading a book. As soon as she noticed he was awake, she leaned forward and placed one hand on his shoulder, sending electricity crackling through his body.

"Nikola," she exclaimed, letting out a sigh of relief, "How do you feel? You've been unconscious for two days."

Two days? He frowned, "Why haven't I healed?" He jerked his head up, which made him growl in pain, "God, tell me I'm still a vampire."

"Yes," she assured him, a small smile tugging at her lips, "You must be fine, if that's the first thing you worry about. Humans would take weeks to recover from your ordeal, if they survived at all, so stop complaining and relax." She set down her book on the bedside cabinet, open to the page she had been reading, before going on, "You've suffered three broken ribs, burns on some of your body, bad bruises, and I've had to stitch up a few wounds."

Nikola snorted, laying back down whilst watching her the whole time, "You sound surprised. It's me, Helen."

She groaned, "If this is how you're going to be, I should have let you die."

"But you love me."

"I believe your injuries must have messed with you mind."

"Deny it all you want," he smirked.

She rolled her eyes and turned to take back her book, but Nikola was faster. He lashed out a hand and scooped up the book before she had a chance. Helen simply smiled and allowed him to read the front cover.

His eyebrows shot up and he stared at her, seeking an explanation, "'The Autobiography of Nikola Tesla'? I'm flattered, really."

Helen laughed, that beautiful, child-like, uncontrolled giggle, as though guilty, "Did you really have visions, Nikola?"

Nikola felt his cheeks flush, and prayed she wouldn't notice. He absently flicked through the pages of the book as he answered, "Kind of. But I had to make a lot of that up, though some of it is true, like my family and my photographic memory. I even payed my biographers to write what I wanted, so no one would know I worked at Oxford. All people know is that I disappeared for a period of time – my friends thought I drowned in a river – and later became a loner," His eyes twinkled mischievously as memories came streaming back into his mind, Helen listened thoughtfully, and he remembered that he had never told her this, "Can you believe Edison refused to pay me my 50,000 dollars? American humour indeed! But I didn't lie about my genius. I read my Wikipedia page a while back; the accomplishments page just proves how amazing I am."

She smiled amusedly, "When do you have time to read Wikipedia pages?"

"Haven't you ever been incredibly bored?"

"It may also help that you're incredibly self-absorbed."

He feigned shock, widening his eyes, "Moi? Self-absorbed? No, you must be confusing me with the other Nikola Tesla, Helen!"

"Of course, my mistake," Then her expression grew more serious. He saw her mouth open and close slightly as she struggled to form the words, and ultimately resorted to saying it silently. I'm glad you're okay.

Nikola smirked, though his skin tingled at hearing her say the words. What would you ever do without me?

Oh, shut up, she rolled her eyes again, though relief made them warm.

They continued to talk for some time, some out loud, some spoken without words. But, for once, they could both almost forget the daunting outside world. It was times like these that Nikola wished would never end.


End file.
